Maybe what theatergoers need now is a good love story, not a 20-somethings' romance, not a sodden metaphysical foray into the psychological twists of love, but a believable slice-of-life about grown-ups, with a romantic score that sweeps you into the story. Something like The Bridges of Madison County-- passionate, melodic and two lovers you have to root for.
“The Bridges of Madison County” was a popular (not universal) hit, first as a three-year best-selling novel by Robert James Waller. A later film adaptation earned leading lady, Meryl Streep, an Academy Award nomination. However, it is in the current musical version at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater where the four-hanky, four-day liaison soars. Francesca, a lonely middle-aged Iowa farm wife meets Robert, a National Geographic freelance photographer. For those who found the original novel too syrupy and the film too mawkish, this musical rendition is an engaging change.
Director Bartlett Sher (Golden Boy, South Pacific), calibrated the various aspects of the story, using the stunning score by Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years) for emotional punch. Marsha Norman's ('Night Mother, The Secret Garden) adaptation actualizes an authentic love story with some changes. She extends the time frame and creates a more satisfying ending, as Francesca's family takes on a bit more importance.
Sher's skillful casting of the two lovers is pretty damn close to perfect. That becomes obvious at the top of the show, when Francesca, played by the luminous Kelli O'Hara, steps forward on the spare set to sing, "To Build a Home." You get a hint of back story, just enough to entice your interest, and you get O'Hara's voice, mature, illuminating and potent. Like a good page-turner, you know you are in for a treat.
It is Iowa in 1965. Francesca is an Italian war bride who married an American soldier, Bud (Hunter Foster), hoping to make a secure and meaningful life on his farm. Years later, her life has settled into predictability, as flat as the Iowa plains. Bud is a hard-working farmer but a dull and clueless husband. Their children, persuasively played by Caitlin Kinnunen and Derek Klena, are squabbling teenagers. While Francesca is resolutely devoted to her family, as Bud prepares to take the kids to the state fair, her face reveals shadows of relief. The thought of spending a few days alone is heavenly.
She spots Robert (Stephen Pasquale), a hunky stranger who is photographing the area's covered bridges. Their attraction is instant and escalates fast with Brown's score reflecting unbridled passion in stirring ballads like, "Falling Into You" and the intense, "Who We Are and Who We Want to Be." Robert's "It All Fades Away" is the song most amenable to performing out of context, a pop-country sound in traditional form. The next four days are transformative.
Thanks to neighbors, Marge (Cass Morgan) and her binoculars, their illicit affair sends ripples of tension through the farm community. Marge and husband Charlie (Michael X. Martin) serve as comedic touches, but most of the community is seen as ghostly shadows, positioned around the stage or rearranging props, eyes always focused on the suspicious stranger and Francesca. Robert's previous girlfriend, Marian (Whitney Bashhor), appears to remember "Another Life" and then disappears, having added little. Opening Act I is an up-tempo state fair, yet all these are accessories as the play centers on Francesca and Robert.
Theatergoers' love affair with Kelli O'Hara endures with her knockout performance of Francesca. She has been nominated several times for Tony Awards, but here she wins the blue ribbon. Her portrayal of Francesca is compelling with a brunette wig and an acceptable trace of an Italian accent, traditional loyalty battling her homesickness. She yearns to see Italy again.
Stephen Pasquale (Far From Heaven) has all the qualities for a leading man, his rugged baritone standing out with vulnerability in "One Second and a Million Miles" as he offers Francesca a far different life. Their chemistry is believable, and their vocals reflect heartrending beauty.
Michael Yeagan's Iowa landscape is spare and wide, with wooden frames indicating stores or houses. Even the covered bridge that Robert came to photograph is just a frame, not interrupting the stretch of plains. Donald Holder's atmospheric lighting adds to the melodrama of romance and to Brown's lush, semi-operatic score. Norman's book and Sher's direction keeps all elements pointing to the two lovers, and although there can only be one ending to their rocket-ride affair, the aftermath remains emotional.
